A Morphine Drip and the ER for New Year's

Lest you jump to any conclusions -- no, I didn't drink myself into oblivion to ring in New Year's.  At least I would have had fun that way ... j/k.

It all started innocently enough.  We made easy plans for New Year's.  After all of our family events at Christmas, we never feel like doing anything big the following weekend (and our wallets thank us for that).  So we made a date with another couple for fondue, wine, and games.

Should have been a great time, except for getting the chills at 9pm.  Decided to leave the foray and try to sleep it off, not knowing I was at the start of a fast moving bug.  Let's just 12 hours later of little sleep, waking up with either chills or being too hot, 100+ degree fever, nausea, feeling like I had been run over by train with the worst joint and stomach pain of my life, and several offerings to the porcelin god, I was in poor shape.

When I got to the point where I couldn't keep down water, I knew it was time to go to the ER.  I was admitted swiftly, expertly hooked up a saline drip, had a swab shoved up my nose to test for flu, and got some morphine to help with the pain.

I've never had morphine before.  I'm pretty sure it was just memory association, but I kept thinking of those singing flowers from Alice in Wonderland.

Turns out I had the stomach flu or viral gastroenteritis.    

Oddly enough, I had a good friend and fellow blogger catch this same crude over Christmas.  While I certainly don't wish this on anyone, I'm so glad she posted about it because I recognized the symptoms.

For the record, most people don't have to go to the hospital for this stuff.  It's only when you can't get in any water or you've started hemorrhaging that you need to turn yourself over to medical professionals. 

After being patched up at the ER and aided with some anti-nausea pills and a good night of sleep, I'm doing much better today.  I still feel like I've been run over by a bus and I've got a bit of a fever yet, but I feel alert and relaxed.  I'm sticking with simple food too - jello, crackers, ginger ale.  Maybe I'll work myself up to pudding and broth later today, oh boy!

It's a little dicey how you can prevent getting the stomach flu, but good hand washing and general hygiene seems to do the trick.  We had Mike sleep on the couch last night since I was still burning a fever.  I'm not surprised he didn't pick anything up - he's been inoculated against everything - but it never hurts to be prudent. 

At any rate, I hope your New Year's was less dramatic than mine!  XOXOXXO

What did you do to ring in 2012?

The Difference Between Planning and Banking

First off, thanks to all who gave feedback about the nature of the blog.  It really helps me to know that the readers I have enjoy what I create.  Hopefully when my work schedule isn't so demanding and this term of teaching is over, I will be back with renewed energy and increased posting frequency!  xoxoxoxx to all

After several weeks of adjusting to some recent news, I can now admit that Mike and I had been pursuing some job opportunities in another part of the state.  There was an opportunity for Mike that we learned about this summer, and we've been sitting on this knowledge for several months between the job actually opening, the application process, and the interview.

Long, disappointing story short, the job was given to someone else.  I had even applied to a position and it also didn't go through.

One of the chief disappointments with the outcome was either of these jobs would have been a financial golden ticket for us.  Salaries twice as high as they are now, job security, steady opportunities for pay raises and advancement. 

However, Mike and I set us up for even greater disappointment.  You see kids, there's a world of difference between planning for and banking on something.

Banking is much like gambling - it's risky, there are no guarantees, and the house usually wins.

Planning is a responsible approach - you mitigate future risk by your actions today. 

When it comes to finances, you should be planning as much as possible.  Planning applies to your savings account, 401k and other retirement investments, medical expenses, and vacations.

Banking, however, is disastrous.  Banking is making financial decisions today based on something that has a high probability of not happening.  Banking is what Clark Griswold does in Christmas Vacation: he puts a downpayment on a pool because he's banking on a large Christmas bonus that never materializes.

Mike and I knew we were edging past planning and into banking during these last months of uncertainty.  There were so many factors in the air that we began to lose sight a little.  We were dealing with the possibility of a complicated move, where one of us had to stay in order to fulfill some obligations.  That meant apartment shopping and two rents to consider.  There's a deployment in 2012 that was an unaccounted factor.  I'm still knee-deep in medical testing that hasn't yielded any answers yet.

We did two things that we regret.  First, we took Mike's classes down from full to part time, anticipating he might have to pick up on short notice and go.  This cut his GI in half, removing $700 of our income each month.

This resulted in us backing off of reducing our debt aggressively.  We were back to treading water, not moving forward.  This was due to both the lessened income, but also a growing mindset that our income problems could soon disappear altogether. 

This is precisely the problem with banking.  And I would recommend you avoid it all at costs because you could be making decisions that end up hurting you.

We came out of this with little more than a scrape, honestly.  And with a good lesson learned to boot.  In fact, we took what we had been hoarding in our savings account and eliminated 2 credits cards to make up for lost time.  So not a major foul.

The situation also caused us to look more deeply at our finances.  We know that my salary will be fairly static.  I make just over $26k and that's not likely to change in the next year.  We also know that Mike's GI Bill won't change provided he's taking 2 classes every term.  Since he won't be done with school until 2014 (the deployment will push things back a bit), we can reasonably say we'll be pulling in $46,000 annually for some time. 

This leads us to several conclusions.  We need to continue being creative with our money to get rid of debt.  We also have to find some way of funding a savings account with what is already coming in.

It's also made us consider if Cedar Rapids may not be the place for us to settle.  We moved to the area with the intention that we'd be here for 2-5 years, gain some financial security, and then go to the next spot.  Clearly we were ready to move with these job prospects.

However, the only problem we've had here is getting Mike a job.  That's it.  We like the distance from family (2 hrs is a nice buffer) and we're clearly in love with Dubuque.  We can drive 5 hours and hit Chicago, the Twin Cities, St. Louis, or Kansas City.  The bike trails and parks are excellent.  There are cultural options each week and we've yet to explore Iowa City 20 minutes away.

So who knows.  Once upon a time, it was common to have a 5-year plan.  You could reasonably set goals based on this time frame.  No longer, my friends, no longer.

Mike and I have limited our planning to 2012 and 2014 respectively.  Next year will be an unusual one for us.  With Mike deployed, he'll earn in 6 months what I do in a year.  That clearly is a financial windfall and you'd better believe we have some distinct plans for the income.  We are going to capitalize on this with every ounce of energy we've got.  

Next year will also mark my 2-year anniversary with the magazine.  Should I get a pay raise, it might help me establish what I can expect for salary increases in the years to come.

2014 is when Mike gets done with school and will be on the market again.  If he were to find a job, and one that he liked, it would be mighty hard to leave the area and terribly easy to talk about buying a home.  

Now, we aren't banking on that.  Who know what the economy will do in the next three years.  There's a very real chance that Mike will finish with classes, look for jobs, and be without any income at all for an extended period of time.  You can bet I'm planning for that now when I think about our savings account.

So the lesson of the story here?  Recognize the difference between if and when with your finances.  If could leave you down a path of regret. 

Staying Patient Through 10 Hours of Delays

Well, my business trip to Orlando this week was quite the flying adventure.  Traveling by plane is still novel and fun to me, but perhaps that's because I can count the number of times I've flown on one hand ...

My last trip involved four flights, no delays, fast security checks, small lines, good weather, and easy-to-navigate airports.  I wondered, why does everyone complain about flying!?

A very grey morning in Iowa proved otherwise. I don't remember the last time I got up at 4am, but golly I sure hope I don't have to do it often.  The airport suggested arriving 90 minutes early, but I saw no reason to show up more than 60 minutes early for a 6:40am flight.

I got through security quickly, though I was "randomly selected" for a patdown (probably because of all of the electronics I was toting along).  A very nice TSA lady quickly and professionally did her routine.

I was a little surprised at where their hands must fly – under the bra line and over the pubic mound – but it was less invasive than a routine physical by a doctor.  I know people make a fuss about TSA, but I didn’t have any qualms with it.  At any rate, those workers aren't the ones making policy decisions. 

Once I got to the boarding area, it was announced that my flight was overbooked and they needed a volunteer to switch flights. I thought I’d be a good citizen and see if I could help.  They didn’t have any way of getting me to Orlando the same day so they had to keep me.

5 minutes later, they announced that to solve the overbooking dilemna, the person to check in last would be bumped from the flight. Guess whose name was called?

Yep, there’s more than one reason to show up early to the airport.

As we looked for alternative flights, there were widespread overbooking problems.  They could get me to Detroit the same evening but not into Orlando until Monday afternoon. That would leave me with only one morning at the trade show before I had to fly back - pretty pointless.

A quick call to my boss determined I could take the Detroit flight and fly back a day later than planned on Wednesday.

Once that was sorted, it turned out that our plane had to be grounded because of mechanical issues.  With the delay and the threat of the flight being canceled altogether, a lot of people jumped ship. 

In all that shuffling, I quite amazingly got my seat back.  However, I still had the problem of having to stay overnight in Atlanta.

So we waited for a new plane to come up from Georgia just to take us back down there.  Our original flight was supposed to leave at 6:40am - we left at 2pm.  The flight itself went smoothly and I got to see the Atlanta skyline as we came in.

(source)

Once in Atlanta, I thought it prudent to confirm there was no way I could get to Orlando before securing my hotel voucher.  Crazily enough, a seat opened up and I could keep my original schedule - I just had to wait 3 hours.

Sensibily, I secured dinner (the food choices, as well as the Atlanta airport, are unremarkable), appeased myself with a Starbucks Salted Carmel Hot Chocolate (addictive), and purchased the new Anthony Bourdain book "Medium Raw" (fantastic!).

There really is no reason to pay $3.50 for a small hot chocolate but I'll definitely be making this at home!

I ended up getting into Orlando at 11pm - 10 hours after I was supposed to.  I paid $40 to have a cab drop me off at my hotel (gouge!) and crashed.

Throughout it all, I stayed in good humor, until lack of sleep made me hunger for a bed.  

Found this pic online, but this is from the hotel I actually stayed at

Lessons learned:

• Show up to the airport 2 hours early
• Listen to your mother - always pack extra clothes
• Don't forgot your cell phone charger
• Make sure to have a good book (or be willing to purchase one)  

Bomb Threat At Work

Ok, so technically that should read "Bomb Threat Near Where I Work" but that's not as flashy of a title :)

(source)

Check out an exciting morning in Cedar Rapids.  This building is kitty-corner to mine: http://www.kcrg.com/news/local/Cedar-Rapids-Building-Evacuated-Bomb-Squad-En-Route-to-Check-on-Suitcases-129526013.html 

Turns out they were just the personal belongings of a homeless man (very sad, when you think about it), but I'm glad that the city took the situation serious.

I am not so pleased with the people who complain to no end during these incidences - saying it's disruptive, a waste of time and money, or, I love this one, "the terrorists have won."

<rolls eyes>

Yes, it costs money to send out the police, stop trains and traffic, and let the bomb squad play with their robot.

But it costs a bajillion times more if a bomb goes off:

• Loss of life has no price tag
• Disruption of a business is costly
• Heavy damage to a building (or surrounding structures) can tank a company
• No one thinks about secondary damage - sidewalks, roads, landscaping, street signs, utility poles ... someone has to pay for those to be fixed
• Events like these negatively impact an area's image - people may still want to visit the Statue of Liberty after 9/11, but not every city can sustain such a blow.

(source)

The biggest cost overlooked is liability.  Imagine if the police had pooh-poohed the suitcases and they had gone off as a bomb.  Now the city is on the hook for not responding to a call.  That company could then sue, and now you really are talking about taxpayer dollars.

At any rate, I'd much have a brouhaha made over nothing than to be complacent about a genuine threat.

$1600 Gone in a Flash

This is an odd week for me.

I just finished 8 weeks of teaching two film classes. It was a busy two months, teaching back-to-back nights in different cities.  But it was a good run – I had engaged students, taught 4 new movies that were well received, and the responses on the essay test really blew me away. 

So final grades are in, the textbook resumes its spot on the bookshelf, and my prep materials are safely stowed away for future reference.

What makes this an unusual end to a class is that I was scheduled to start teaching a literature class this week as well. 

Note the past tense.

I learned a few days ago that not enough students registered for my class and so it was canceled.  This is standard university policy – it’s just not cost effective to pay an instructor to teach less than 10 students. 

Now I’ve taught close to 50 classes, but this is the first time I’ve ever had one canceled.  This leaves me with a lot of mixed feelings. 

The bonus to this situation is the amount of time I gain back – 40 hours in the classroom, 16 hours of driving, and however many hours spent grading and emailing.  We’ve got a lot going on in our life right now, so having another free evening is not a small thing.

However, there are some definite downsides.

The first is a teaching-related concern.  I’ve taught literature a handful of times, twice before at this particular university.  I made few changes between the original courses as I was still feeling the ropes, but I was ready on the 3^rd run to make adjustments. Add to this a recent university directive to add more “rigor” to gen ed courses and I was eager to get creative.

So I changed the course.  The reading list stayed virtually the same, but I redistributed the points across different assignments.  I went from 1 presentation, 1 midterm, and 1 final paper to 1 small presentation, 1 midterm, 2 responses, a final PowerPoint presentation, and no paper.

You may not be interested in my teaching methods, but here’s the thing – students have access to your syllabus prior to registering for the course.  On my old format, I clearly had enough students to hold class.  But under the new format, I did not.

There may be a number of factors why this course didn’t fly – it’s fall and students want to concentrate more on major classes, not many this term needed to fulfill a gen ed requirement, literature isn’t very popular in the first place, ect …

But I do wonder if my changes had anything to do with it.  I was excited to teach with the new assignments/activities, knowing they would enhance students’ understanding of literature and let us cover a great range of authors and topics.   

I wouldn't suggest I'm as awesome as Mr. Keating, but I'm a big fan of making literature accessible

I don’t regret the changes – if I get to teach this course again, I will stick to my new design.  I just wish I knew why there wasn’t enough interest.

But this is life as a college instructor – classes get canceled, it happens.  However, because I’m hired from term to term, I do not know when I will be teaching again next.  It might be again in October (another movies class), but nothing has been decided yet.        

The other thing that this cancelation has caused is lost income.  Though I’d signed my contract, redesigned the class, prepared all of the materials, and had my syllabus turned in, no students = no pay.

I would never say that it wasn’t worth it.  I have a fantastic literature course ready to deploy when the time is right.  But I can’t deny that we had plans for my pay.  It was to fuel debt reduction, nothing earth shattering, but that’s a good chunk of change that disappeared with only a few days’ notice.

I love teaching.  I make my bread and butter in publishing, but teaching is a natural state of being for me.  If the structure of higher education and the economy allowed it, I would work as an instructor full time, but such is not the case for our times (and the explanation would take up another post).  Hopefully another opportunity will come, but for the next few months, I will lay my teaching hat aside. 

Screwy Finances Yet Again

So remember our recent bout of debt slashing?  We were flying high on our little burst of income, happily checking off items on our financial goal list.

The tables have turned yet again and we're now back to Square One.

(source)

I feel like we're in this cul-de-sac of financial repetitiveness, a merry-go-round I'd gladly exit if I could.

The dealio is that Mike was supposed to be on another month of orders during August.  So we threw all of that extra money he was earning at debt and a small pittance into savings, thinking we'd get to that with our surplus for this month.

Just kidding.

At the last minute, Mike's orders were canceled.  Yep, no warning, you can go home now.  While that's nice for us on a personal note because this summer has been completely hijacked, it also means Mike won't be earning money at all this entire month.

Lest anyone be super alarmed, we thankfully have enough to cover everything and Mike will back in classes with his GI Bill reinstated in September.  

But it's switcharoos like these that make me question our previous actions, and that's no fun at all.  How was I to know it would have been better to throw a bunch in savings first and not at debt because we would be losing income on short notice?  

I know I shouldn't be hard on us - we don't have a crystal ball and you can only make a good decision based on the knowledge that you have at the time.  

But this is what I think is the most frustrating about our financial situation - it's never consistent. No matter how hard we try, half of our income can disappear or be delayed at any time.  You cannot be financially responsible if you can't PLAN for anything.

<takes a deep breath and eats a piece of chocolate>

Things will be alright, it's just another bump in the road.  Worse things could happen.  But believe me, it will be a happy day when we have incomes we can actually count on.

How Osama bin Laden Saved My Finances

Kapow!  Kablam!  Splat!

(source)

Those are the sounds of our debt being slashed, cut down, and eliminated.

And I have Osama bin Laden to thank for it. 

Let me explain.

The original reason Mike was called up on orders is because base security was raised after the bin Laden incident – just a precautionary move. The base couldn’t staff this required manning solely with area Guard members, hence a phone call to Mike.

So Mike has been on full orders for the military the last two months, all because we finally caught International Terrorist Numero Uno. 

That’s a full-time job that just landed in his lap. Which translates to a windfall in monthly income. All of a sudden, we had a surplus of several thousand dollars.

We resolved from the get-go to take that money and B-E AGGRESSIVE with our debt. No crazy purchases or shopping sprees here.

So far, we’ve paid off these accounts IN FULL:

·        KAPOW!  Leftover personal loan from February - $500     

·        BAM!  Credit union credit card - $400                           

·        KABLOOIE!  Bank credit card - $850

·        THAWP!  Firestone account - $1300

It makes me giddy to know we have eliminated 4 monthly payments - over $3,000 of debt that’s gone.  That’s huge!  That frees up around $200 in payments each month.   

(source)

We’re also taking out sizable chunks of our Furniture Row account. Even though there’s no interest and the monthly payment is $45, it’s still another obligation. We now have the balance under $1000 thanks to a recent $400 payment.

One of my other goals with our surplus was to close some of these accounts once they were paid off – you know, remove the temptation. I learned, however, that closing a credit line can actually HURT your credit score.

Believe it or not, your credit score can take a ding if you close out your oldest lines of credit. For example, I have a card leftover from a bank we’re no longer with. I thought because it's orphaned and has a high interest rate (14%+), that it would be good to cut it up.

Wrong!  Because that account has been open for over 8 years, it’s actually my oldest line of credit. I don’t fully understand the logic of it all, but it would be detrimental to close it. So it’s been designated the “god-forbid-we-have-a-$2,000-emergency” or “Jennie’s-traveling-for-work” card and is safely residing in the lock box.

We also added Mike to our credit union card. Without trying to embarrass the poor guy, I have a credit score 100 points higher than his, mostly because all of our bills are in my name. So we’re trying to bump his up by getting his name on a few more well-managed accounts.

This is the same reason we’re not closing out the Firestone card, as it’s solely in his name. It’s also very good for emergency repairs, which we all know how disastrous those can be on a budget.

As successful as this round of debt slashing has been, we only eliminated 40% of our credit card debt.  Mike has a card with 4 grand on it that needs some serious attention. That’s not comfortable at all to have hanging over our heads, but we knew this would be the year we cleaned up our credit card act. 

At some point in the future, we’d like to be as “off grid” as possible with credit cards. We learned some hard lessons in our early days and still  worry about our dependence on them when our income situation gets fouled up. But it’s an ongoing process to live  responsibly within your means.

There’s no one way of driving down debt. The best advice I can give is to just tackle it with as much force as you can muster, even if that’s $25. Make peace with your debt and own it before it owns you.

Time for Car Shopping!

The car saga continues.

What started at the end of May as a month without a car stretched into Mike being on orders through July.

Now we've learned he'll be out there until September.

Yeppers.

Just last weekend, I went and got a rental car.  I'm now back into my summer teaching schedule and not only can I not bike home to arrive to class on time, but I also have one class an hour away.  

We knew by July 4th we were going to have to figure out the car situation.  We didn't know that because orders keep getting extended, that our plans to actually purchase a second car were going to be greatly accelerated.

Yes, that's right, we're now in the market for a car.

I had so been hoping to make one car work, but as long as the two of us are in different cities, it's just undoable. 

I had also been planning to not buy a second car until we could do so in full, no loans, all in one chunk.  Or at least had a really awesome downpayment. 

<shakes head>  Busted.

So we're off to do the next best thing: buy a used car.  No lemons please, but a real previously owned vehicle.

(source)

Here's the budget lowdown:
Price range - $4-8,000
Year - circa '05/06
Brand - Honda, Volkswagen, maybe Chevy
Type - compact, 4 doors, mpg in the high 20s, air conditioning
Downpayment - $0 (I know, I know, not ideal in the least...)

I don't want another patch car.  I want to be smart with our money and get something that isn't going to nickel and dime us to death with repairs and that will last for a good number of years.

Since Mike has the truck, this will be "my" car.  The one I take to work when I can't bike, the one we use to go grocery and Walmart shopping, the one we take to go on trips. 

It will also be the first time I've actually bought a car from a dealer. 

Yep, that's right, 27 and never really bought a car.  I had a family one during high school (a station wagon, no less, which I loved), nothing for the first 3 years of college, and then Mike's car when he was overseas.  After that was a Cadillac we purchased together through a family friend that had repair after repair.  The only vehicle I technically bought was this yellow 83 Silverado that we named Gertie for $600.

Gertie and I epically did not get along.  She was the bane of my existence but was all smooth sailing for Mike.  She had her loyalties, harumf.  Should have named her Christine (that's a Stephen King reference, if you missed it).  As an older vehicle though, she had mounting problems and wasn't good for highway travel.

At any rate, we have a proven track record with older used cars eating more money than they're worth within the first year.  Hence I find it reasonable to want to get more bang for my buck.

Yesterday, I stopped by our credit union (Veridian) and talked with a loan officer about what we could do with them.  A combination of varying credit scores and Mike's unusual salary led us to a preapproved loan for the top of our price range, 8K:

Period: 5 years
Interest: 6.49% (includes payment protection, which is optional)
Car year: 2005-2006
Monthly payment: $180

I think that's a decent starting point.  $8,000 is the absolutely max and I certainly don't want to go that high if we can find other options.  The monthly payment is of more concern to me than the interest rate and $180 was also the top of what I would want to pay.

Our next step is to start researching dealers in the area and know what's on the lot.  I have no idea what Cedar Rapids has to offer for used cars so I've got a little work ahead of me.

Mike will be coming home in a week or so for a short break before heading up to the flood front.  At that time, we'll return the rental car and add a permanent second!

What's your advice for car shopping? 

7 Questions About Being Carless

Week 4 of the "Jennie-only-has-a-bike-while-Mike-is-in-another-part-of-the-state" saga has closed.

(source)

Instead of having only a week left (as originally planned), we just learned that Mike is being held in Des Moines into the month of July.  All signs indicate he will be there for another 3-6 weeks.

To give you a proper update, I'm going to answer some questions I've received through Facebook and from friends and coworkers: 

What's your biking routine?
Because I'm terribly out of shape, biking has been more challenging than I expected.  In 3 weeks, I have biked to work 12 times.

I ride on a bike trail that follows the Cedar River, which keeps me out of traffic and goes right behind my office.  On average, it takes me 30-35 minutes to get to work and 40-50 minutes to get home.

The trail is very hilly. I'm sure it's not challenging for hardcore bikers, but I am a sweaty mess at the end of each ride.

What has been the hardest thing?
For the first two weeks, I experienced daily headaches and shoulder pain.  I was also extremely tired, all leading to a great amount of frustration.

I learned 3 things about my body during this time:

• My shoulder pain was caused from wearing a backpack.  Since college, I've had mild shoulder problems (I suspect years of marching band might be a factor ...), but even a light weight resting on them can inflame a nerve.  Now I strap my backpack to my handlebars.
• To ease tiredness, I have to be in bed around 9pm and get around 9+ hours of sleep. 
• My headaches were from dehydration.  On normal days, I drink over 100 oz of water.  When I bike, I have to push that to 250 oz, including a liter (4 cups) before I head out in the morning.  I just have to honor what my body needs, even though that's a ridiculous amount of water.

I drink 4 times this a day  (source)

What has been your greatest success?
Biking has one goal - get to Point A.  It's easy to feel successful at the end of each and every ride.  You can always say, "Yay!  I made it!"

My biggest success is that I rode into work all 5 days for the first time last week.  It was 6.5 hours, or 400 minutes.  I had been working my way up to this goal for several weeks and now I know I can do it.

I also have been shaving time off of my ride to work.  When we first got our bikes, it took around 40 minutes to ride in.  Now, I can get there in 30-33 minutes.    

Do you feel healthier?
This is a hard one.  Weight-wise, the scale indicates I've lost 3 pounds.  I look in the mirror and see a little slimming, but not enough for anyone else to notice.

Clearly I've been getting faster, so that means I'm building muscle and getting more efficient.

However, I'm still dead tired at the end of each day.  That rush of endorphins you're supposed to get after exercising?  I've yet to experience that. 

I do know, as I've been tracking calories in a food diary, that I need to eat much much healthier to sustain this level of activity. 
 
Have you thought about buying a car or getting a rental?
Mike and I are really proud that we've made our one-car situation work since last October.  However, him being on orders has thrown a wrench into everything.

We cannot afford a second car at this time.  Sure, we could get a loan, but that would be completely irresponsible because of our current debt load.  We simply cannot add another monthly payment to our long list.  Hence why we got the bikes, so it would be a little easier to share one car.

We're also resistant to the idea of buying a clunker.  There's nothing worse than unexpected and frequent car repairs.  We don't want to put ourselves in a situation where we've willingly taken on a budget drain.

No more lemons!

Rental cars are expensive.  I got one last weekend to attend a friend's bachelorette party.  So as not to concern her, I won't disclose how much it was, but it was waaay more than necessary.  Of course, it was worth every penny to have two days of independence and freedom.

To our best knowledge, a rental car (in our area) will cost about $900 a month - that's $700 for the actual car and $200 in fees and taxes.  Cute.

In two weeks though, I will have to get a rental.  After July 4th, I start teaching again - one night in Waterloo, the next in Cedar Rapids.  I must have a set of wheels to not only travel an hour, but get back home in time to show up for class not looking like a mess.  I'm also in a wedding and would have to spend 3 days biking there, lol.

Renting a car isn't ideal, but we're down to limited options. No one said being fiscally responsible is easy. 

Is it hard being away from each other?
Not entirely.

We're a very independent and self-sufficient couple.  Out of the 10 years we've been together, 5 have been long distance.  It's not exactly routine, but it's also not a shock either when orders/deployments happen.

And unlike a deployment, Mike is stateside, has access to the internet, is not in a war zone, and can text/call.  It's more like he's on an extended business trip than anything.

Not us, but they're adorable! (source)

That doesn't mean that we don't miss each other and such, but separation is just an accepted part of our relationship.  Our life is set up so it can easily switch gears when Mike needs to do his thing.

How has the situation affected your finances?
In short, it's thrown everything out of wack.

It's very difficult to determine how much money we're saving.  Though I'm not using a car, Mike is driving through several quadrants of Des Moines for work.  He is also paying $18 a day for lodging.  Then there are his food needs, and he only has a microwave.

I have to make a huge effort to get anywhere to spend money, so in many ways that's good.  Eating out has virtually been banished, though Casey's pizza is hard to resist some nights.  On the other hand, I try to stock up for several weeks of groceries at a time, making some trips larger than others.

Now, Mike is getting paid for being on orders.  And while there's info out there on how much that should be, it's the military.  His pay has been delay, part of it has been shorted, and some expenses (like lodging) will be reimbursed after his orders are through.

So we're using any and all income with extreme hesitation.  I just killed off the leftover loan we took out for rent back in February ($500) and paid off a credit card ($400).  The rest is going directly into savings.  

Loading up savings will be important as Mike will not be taking classes the next school term.  Oddly enough, it's the same term I'll start teaching and my pay from that will make up for his GI Bill being on hold.

However, it looks like there will be a gap in our incomes in August between when his orders pay stops and his GI Bill payments start back up.  So the more we squirrel away to savings, the better we'll be able to handle that.

And that's where we're sitting!  We've appreciated all of the support.  Let me know if you have other questions!

A Month Without a Car

As some of you may know, we have had only one car since last October.  Long story short, I totaled our car on a concrete overpass after being run off the road by an SUV who didn't stop.  That sounds a lot worse than it was - I was ok minus some whiplash.  Because the car was older and the entire suspension needed to be replaced, it was easy for the repairs to cost more than the car's value.

What ensued was a lengthy discussion about what our options were.  How would we replace the car?  Should we get another loan?  That didn't seem responsible given our current debt load.  Should we get another clunker for cheaper?  Been there, done that, only leads to repair after repair.

(source)

 

So we did something radical.  We decided to not replace it at all. 


In some places of the country, that's not radical.  But in Iowa, that's majorly crazy.  We're not a state set up for good mass transit or biking communities.  Not at least when you compare us to a metropolitan area.

But we made it work.  Since then, it's actually been surprisingly manageable.  With Mike still looking for work, I simply drive to the office every day and am mindful to let him have the truck every once in a while.  If something comes up, he'll either drop me off at work or I can come home lunch and switch.

This was all fine up until last week.  Turns out, Mike was called up on orders to work at the base in Des Moines.


For five weeks.


All of our "we're being awesome and have one car, save the planet!" ideas came to a screeching halt.  A month is a long time to not have a car.  Not at least when a grocery store and Walmart aren't within walking distance. 

(source)

So we considered the usual - rides with coworkers, navigating the bus system, or get a rental car.  All had some serious drawbacks financially or compatibility with my hours.

I then took a bold step and suggested that I just use the bike.  After all, one of the reasons we got them was so I could bike to work.  I had already done so a couple of times and was in the process of working my way up to doing every day.  This would just jumpstart that goal.

We agreed that was the most financially attractive option, as well as being good for my health.  We then set up some calls with friends and coworkers so I had backup rides in inclement weather and such.  

Now the problem with last-minute orders and a spouse without transportation for a month is that it generates some unexpected expenses:

• A month's worth of groceries and supplies for me to minimize carrying any by bike (no saddlebags yet)
• New/more professional biking gear for me.  Though I change into work clothes, I don't want to show up in the parking lot looking like a hobo.
• Start-up groceries for Mike, like breakfast, snack items, and toiletries
• An oil change and a full tank of gas.
• Accommodations for Mike.  (Yes, they can call you up and not pay for room and board.   Or food for that matter.)

Break out the credit cards.  Sigh.  That's what they're there for, emergencies, but it puts us behind once again on reducing them.  Luckily, Mike gets paid for his time and we're going to be very mindful of making sure the extra income goes right back to the cards.

The week on my end was decent but energy draining.  My ride to work is about 40 minutes one way and on a hilly bike trail.  If it was a flat stretch, it'd be easy.  But my thighs are getting a beating on the inclines. 

I made it in 4 days this week on my own - combating cold weather (48 degrees in May!?), humidity, gnats, rain, and hissing geese.

On Thursday, I just couldn't do it.  I got out of bed and balked at the idea of spending any more time on the bike.  Plus, my body was full of new and old pains.  So I broke down and took a cab.

(source)

Physically, I'm glad I gave my body a day off.  Financially, I know calling a cab won't be happening often.  $20 for 12 minutes and 6 miles.  And that was only one way.  I've had cheaper rides in Chicago and DC!  Luckily a coworker was kind enough to give me a lift home.

So Week 1 is officially over for me.  392 minutes or 6.5 hours of biking.  It's definitely a shock to the system and I need to stay on top of stretching and drinking water, but it's doable.  

I'm hoping that after 5 weeks, biking to work will simply become a part of my lifestyle.  I hope my body will soon realize that I'm doing something really good for it and it should start treating me nicely in return.  At any rate, I feel a level of pride committing to this when we could have (albeit irresponsibly) gotten a rental car.  

Here's to the next four weeks!